Asura in Arknights

Rhine Labs has a very unique structure. Rather than a single company, it is more like an alliance of ten top-notch laboratories with different research directions, and the director... refers to the founder of one of the laboratories.

Ferdinand Clooney, as the head of the Energy Department, is not a big shot who can shake the entire Colombian nation with a stomp of his foot, but he is not someone that just anyone can meet.

Moreover, if the intelligence gathered by Hinterlea is accurate, the Energy Department holds a very high position even among the ten departments of Rhine Lab.

After all, the energy industry is a very lucrative sector, and most of Rhine Life's funding comes from the Energy Department or sponsorships personally secured by Ferdinand.

He is more like a successful businessman than a researcher.

However, Ferdinand is capable; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to become the head of the Energy Department.

It's fair to say that every minute of Ferdinand's time represented a huge sum of money, and it's hard to imagine that such a big shot would travel all the way to Kazimierz for a contract.

Upon hearing Hinterlea's words, Ferdinand shook his head slightly and said, "With so many unexpected events at Ball Pharmaceuticals, the business department doesn't have that much authority. It's safer for me to come in person."

"After all, that contract was signed by Adams and me."

The contract was personally signed by Ferdinand?

Hinterlea noticed this information. Could it be that the riot at Plot Zero wasn't caused by him? After all, Ferdinand had no reason to cause trouble for himself.

However, she quickly dismissed her guess.

All of that was said by Ferdinand himself, and its veracity is unknown. Who knows if he had other intentions?

“Okay… Mr. Clooney, may I ask which specific contract you are referring to? I need to go to the company archives to find that contract.”

“Where is Ayin? He was in charge of this project. Let’s call him over. I’d like to ask him about the project’s progress.” Ferdinand said casually.

"Ayin?"

Upon hearing the name, Hinterlea paused for a moment, unable to recall who Ferdinand was referring to.

She has only been in the position for a little over three months, so it's impossible for her to remember the name of everyone in the company.

After thinking carefully for a while, Hintelya finally remembered who this Ayin was.

"You must be referring to Mr. A, the former research director of Boer Pharmaceuticals. Unfortunately, during the last natural disaster, Mr. A was unable to evacuate the affected area in time, and he is now likely dead."

Hinterlea shook her head, her expression one of deep regret.

"What did you say?! Ayin is dead!?"

The moment he heard the news, Ferdinand's expression turned incredibly ferocious, completely devoid of his usual elegance.

"Yes."

Hinterlea was not frightened by Ferdinand's expression for a moment, and continued calmly, "Plot 21 has been completely destroyed by natural disaster. The torrential rain lasted for more than half a month, and it is impossible for anyone to have survived."

Ferdinand clenched his fists, his expression gradually calming down.

"...Where is plot 21 located now?"

He seemed to be planning to go directly to plot 21 to find out what was going on.

“About 150 kilometers north of the Great Knight’s Territory,” Hinterlea replied.

Anyone could easily find out about this, so Hinterlea simply told Ferdinand.

"Excuse me, I'll take my leave now."

After acquiring the location of plot 21, Ferdinand was eager to leave.

"Wait, Mr. Ferdinand! You haven't told me the name of the contract yet!"

"Dream".

After uttering those two words, Ferdinand hurriedly rushed out of the office.

I can't take it anymore, I need to ask for leave.

ORZ, my attendance record this month is so bad, it feels like I've been locked down for over a month and I'm going crazy...

My body's a bit giving out, I'm going to get some sleep. I'll catch up on what I missed by tomorrow.

Chapter 36

"A dream...?"

Chewing on the word, Hinterlea did not stop Ferdinand from leaving.

Since the other party came here to visit openly and legitimately, it was not convenient for Cintraya to take them down directly.

Moreover... how could such important figures travel without bodyguards?

Although she couldn't find out where her protectors were, her intuition told Hinterlea that it was best not to act rashly.

Hinterlea didn't want to cause trouble by acting on her own initiative.

Just because she's doing the chairman's job doesn't mean she can actually make decisions for the chairman; Cintraya hasn't gotten that arrogant yet.

She should probably focus on the contract that Ferdinand mentioned.

"I don't think I've ever heard of it."

After carefully searching her memory, Hinterlea realized that she did not seem to have seen a contract with that name before.

Hinterlea did not get discouraged, after all, she had only been working for three months and it was impossible for her to have seen every single contract.

So she turned on the computer on her desk, logged into the company's internal database, and began searching for that keyword.

Still nothing?

The records that Cinderella retrieved from the database were all completely unrelated to the contract.

Adams was doing some shady business and dared not enter some of the files into the electronic system, but that had nothing to do with them. After the restructuring of Ball Pharmaceuticals, all the paper files had indeed been entered into the database.

"This is getting a bit complicated..."

If it cannot be found in the database, it means that the contract was never kept in the legal department in the first place.

Considering Ferdinand's words, the contract is most likely in the hands of the deceased former research director... Plot 21 has been washed by torrential rains caused by natural disasters for more than half a month, and there is probably not much intact stuff left inside.

Do we really have to assemble a search team to search that site for anything left?

"Forget it, let others have a headache."

After thinking for a while, Hintleya simply gave up on thinking.

Hinterlea edited a text message and sent it to Li Ang, detailing everything that had just happened. As for when he would see it, that was up to fate.

-------------------------------------

On the other side, Ferdinand stormed out of the office building of Ball Pharmaceuticals with a livid face.

"Those two...good-for-nothings!"

Even with Ferdinand's excellent self-control, he couldn't help but curse those two damn bastards in his heart.

One person died due to an accident during the experiment?

Okay, no problem, I completely understand.

What experiment is without its accidents? Even Ferdinand himself, although he rarely conducts experiments himself now, had faced several life-or-death crises due to experimental accidents before.

But Ferdinand couldn't understand Ayin's death at all.

It's already 1095 years ago... and there are still people living in mobile cities who were crushed to death because they couldn't evacuate the disaster zone in time?

This could easily be nominated as one of the dumbest ways to die this century.

However, no matter how much he cursed, he couldn't change the fact that his two partners had already died, which left Ferdinand feeling quite powerless.

He walked quickly to a minivan parked by the roadside, and with a dark expression, Ferdinand opened the door and got in.

"Back to the hotel."

The Originium engine started, and the scenery outside the car window began to slowly recede into the distance.

Only after the car's speed dispelled the outside noise and the carriage became completely quiet did the other person in the car cautiously speak.

"Um... Boss, you don't look too good. Did something happen?"

Upon hearing this voice, Ferdinand's terrible expression eased slightly.

“The situation is rather bad, Elena,” Ferdinand said, rubbing his temples. “Both of my business partners are dead.”

Sitting in the back seat of this car was a Liberian girl with a long blue ponytail.

Upon hearing Ferdinand's words, she widened her eyes in surprise. "Were they all murdered?"

Even Elena herself probably didn't realize that there was a hint of barely perceptible excitement hidden in her tone.

"...It was just a simple accident."

Ferdinand said, somewhat speechlessly.

If they had been murdered, that would be one thing, but based on the information he gathered, those two idiots had brought about their own demise.

"One idiot died in an experimental accident, and another idiot failed to evacuate in time and was crushed to death by a natural disaster, along with his experimental data, which were buried in the ruins of the disaster."

"..."

Upon hearing about these two shocking ways of dying, Elena was at a loss for words.

After a moment of silence, Elena whispered, "Then... boss, what should we do now?"

This time, she, her mentor, and her boss made a special trip to Casimir to retrieve the experimental data from their partners.

The research at Rhine Life's headquarters had recently hit a bottleneck and urgently needed data from there to break the deadlock.

But now everything is destroyed, so what can they do? Go home?

By this time, Ferdinand had completely calmed down.

He pondered for a moment, then asked, "Elena, is your sister receiving treatment here?"

Upon hearing her sister mentioned suddenly, Elena paused for a moment, then quickly nodded and replied, "Yes, my sister is receiving treatment on Rhodes Island."

Ferdinand had originally planned to come to Kazimierz alone, but after Elena learned of this, she begged Ferdinand to take her along, so that they could visit her sister whom she hadn't seen for a long time.

"Alright, Elena, I'm giving you a task."

Ferdinand said, "When you visit your sister, ask Rhodes Island if they are still accepting hires. I need some specialists to investigate the highly contaminated areas after the disaster."

Find out the location of plot 21 and then rush in to investigate by yourself? That's impossible.

Ferdinand brought few people to Kasimir this time, so he has to hire people from elsewhere.

Rhodes Island... Rhine Labs has also collaborated with this company several times before, so they are indeed a very suitable candidate if it's necessary to investigate contaminated areas.

Although she found it a little strange that she was being given this task, Elena didn't think much of it and nodded in agreement.

"No problem, boss, I guarantee I'll complete the task!"

Chapter 37

Let's go back to a short time ago.

After receiving Kal'tsit's call, Leon and Adele headed to Rhodes Island, which was attached to plot zero.

Before setting off, Li Ang hesitated for a moment, but still put the helmet on his head.

He'll probably keep wearing this for a while, since hiding his identity won't do him any harm anyway.

But... should we get a few more helmets from other knights to wear in rotation? I feel like that would make the character more well-rounded.

With the communication pass they had obtained in advance from Hinterlaya, Li Ang and his companion entered Plot Zero without any difficulty.

As he passed by, Li Ang also took the opportunity to use his senses to investigate Sona's bakery.

The bakery was empty, not a soul in sight. The damaged interior couldn't be repaired in a short time, and the whereabouts of the girls were unknown.

Finding no trace of them, Li Ang withdrew his senses.

Rhodes Island is located on the edge of Plot Zero. Some medical operators are deployed to work at the central hospital, while some combat-capable operators are responsible for assisting in maintaining order. This should be the busiest place in Plot Zero besides the central hospital.

On their way to Rhodes Island, Leon and his companions encountered many infected knights wearing Bloodblade Knights armor.

It seems that the report by the Rose Press Group did indeed have a significant impact, as even these people were dispatched to maintain order.

I wonder if Byron has come here. Given his reputation among the infected, just showing his face at Plot Zero would greatly stabilize the situation here.

However, it shouldn't be that serious yet.

Along the way, Li Ang's attire was quite unique, even among the many knights and Rhodes Island operators, frequently attracting the attention of passersby.

If Li Ang were wearing full armor, it would be fine, but he only had a helmet on his head.